This specification includes an Appendix comprising computer code listings which will be substituted by a microfische Appendix.
This invention relates to a cellular telephone accounting system to track the location and usage of cellular phones and to provide an automatic accounting system for centralized record keeping, audit or account statements. The cellular telephone accounting system is particularly useful for rental of cellular phones where mobility of the phone presents unique problems in customer billing and accounting for the location and possession of the telephone unit. Similarly, the accounting system is useful for organizations with shared resources and equipment shared by employees, as in large private companies or government agencies. Frequently, in such organizations usage of mobile cellular telephones requires monitoring to insure appropriate distribution and authorized use of the phones. In both situations means is provided for determining where the phones have been, what calls have been made and when, and to whose account usage is to be attributed. Additionally, the organizations may desire means for determining what general account such use, including any service charges from outside vendors, should be charged.
Because existing commercial cellular phones are generally sold to a user/owner, detailed accounting schemes have been avoided in part to minimize complications with the already complicated requirements for crediting national or international communication carriers, local or regional carriers, and one or more cellular network area operators. Similarly, with multiple charges from multiple carriers, with services provided in a variety of governmental jurisdictions, tax accounting becomes a complex endeavor. With the factor of periodic use by a series of multiple users added, problems arise that cannot be resolved solely by programming changes in existing telephone units or central communication systems. While some of the features of the preferred embodiment described hereafter may be of the type that could be incorporated in central telephone service systems, inertia in altering massive communication protocols for selective applications, not of benefit to all subscribers, will inhibit implementation. Although other cellular telephone rental systems have been proposed, they have been unable to provide the full features required for proper monitoring of the location and usage of a mobile telephone unit to allow adequate flexibility in setting usage criteria for an organization or appropriate charge schedules for a rental business.
The cellular phone accounting system of this invention solves the problems in expanding the capability of existing cellular phone systems by improvements in software programming and hardware additions, which are preferably integrated into a composite system that is useful for small and large organizations.